With the return of captain flameheart in season 13 I thought that season was fantastic. We got a brand-new ship (locked to a world event), camps, and we got flameheart back in the game. This establishes his return and brings him back fine, but it could be better. I would argue that an aspiring king of the sea of thieves like flameheart deserves something grand. Picture this for a moment. Reaper's hideout raises from out of the ground like the main tent looking area and a few levels are added to it. You could then have a dock that connects that part with the surrounding cannons and even connects to the small island across from reaper. From a design perspective I'm picturing a cross between a castle and a skeleton fort that's made out of obsidian and flame. This would be the grandest structure in all of the sea of thieves rivaling even sea dog's tavern. I would also like to see the burning blade pulled from its world event state and put at a dock at this new rebuilt reaper's hideout. Reapers need a symbol like how Athena has port merrick. A kingdom of flame dedicated to those loyal to flamheart. If the story is to continue in the direction its headed and flameheart is to reign over the seas, then we need a place that really captures that vibe as well.
Reaper's Fortress Of Flame
I agree that the Reapers Hideout and Reapers Lair desperately need updates and improvements. Chapman recently teased a Reapers company update akin to the Hunters Call update we got this season, so time will tell. Also everything indicates new construction in the Lair. Every skeleton down there is mining for the gold commonly featured in reaper cosmetics and it seems like they are expanding the lair. We'll just have to be patient and see what Rare is cooking. Hopefully it's good and not buggy.
I think they need to do a couple things to make it a truly amazing change to Reaper’s Hideout:
- A better place to sell (I don’t mean like Sovereigns, I just mean somewhere that feels intended vs jamming your ship against the island)
- A proper throne room for Captain Flameheart (he is the KING, for goodness’ sake!)
- Better cannon coverage from both islands (it’s a fortress, not a random island with a few random cannons!)
- More barrels & a supply handler of some sort to sell resource and storage crates (like a stand-in for the merchants)
- Shops selling Reaper- and Servant- related items and equipment, including a Shipwright!
- Skeletons that defends the island from non-Reaper Emissaries and their ships (to reenforce the lore!)
- A design similar to a Skeleton Camp with mixed Wood and Stone parts.
- Maybe a little campsite with a campfire, a few barrels, and a few Skeletons that are ‘on break’?
I don’t know; just a few ideas I’ve had. Given the other Trading Companies have these massive Outposts, I think it’s only fair for the Reapers to be brought up to their level with more Cosmetics and variants of those Cosmetics, and maybe someday they could have a fort/hideout in the Devil’s Roar (maybe a Molten Sands rework?) given that that area is tied heavily to Flameheart in the lore. I also honestly believe you should be able to spawn at Reaper’s Hideout; it’s only fair!
Yeah, good point they have been building for a while so I feel like real soon, we will see an expansion to the hideout. My concern with it is performance because port merrick can cause me to dip below 60 while I'm there and it's a pain to sell at so I'm hoping performance remains consistent when they do decide to do this expansion.
The lair beneath is very far underground but the hideout has always had that appearance to me anyway that it looks like it was meant to rise out of the ground and become something grander than it currently is. Right now, it has that very diy feel to it that you would associate with a group that just mashed whatever they could to make the hideout because they didn't have enough resources. It looks cool and it worked for the beginning years of the game but with flame hearts return it definitely needs that facelift to signal yeah were not hiding anymore were here to take over as the story has conveyed.
@sirpebble323 said in Reaper's Fortress Of Flame:
- A better place to sell (I don’t mean like Sovereigns, I just mean somewhere that feels intended vs jamming your ship against the island)
- Better cannon coverage from both islands (it’s a fortress, not a random island with a few random cannons!)
- Skeletons that defends the island from non-Reaper Emissaries and their ships (to reenforce the lore!)
Reapers is meant to be hard, I think the way it's currently setup just right. You must take more risk in handing in as a reaper.
Slower handing in is part of the risk.
@captdirtyoar I did say something ‘not like Sovereigns’. The idea isn’t that it’s faster or easier, just more of a way to have an ‘intended’ hand-in location. Like a dock with direct access to the tent. It could be a long dock, to slow someone down, or have a gate at the end for a choke point for other players to ambush you, but it would be a similar length (ideally) as the standard rock-jam there is these days, but NOT just some random spot, instead an intended place to anchor or moor your ship. I completely agree with the sentiment of Reapers being difficult. That is why I’m such a loyal one. Long live Captain Flameheart! ❤️🔥
Plus, being a Reaper is already quite difficult, so the part in which you quoted the cannon coverage and Skeleton bits, I did clarify that would be for lore-related reasons, and I think it’s pretty fair to make it a little more of a Reaper’s Respite (get it?) from the rest of the game. They don’t need to hit every shot or be un-killable, but I think it would be pretty fun to have that kind of localised, location-specific assistance for the Reapers at their own home base. Hey, they could do the same for Outposts - give ‘em Phantoms to man Port Merrick’s cannons against Reaper Emissaries? That would emphasise the ‘War for the Sea of Thieves’ that you only really hear about these days from fanatics like myself and the Hourglass cue banners.
